Mud pulse telemetry and electromagnetic (EM) telemetry are MWD methods. Each of these methods has its own shortcomings in achieving robust data telemetry. Mud pulse telemetry suffers most in conditions including, but not limited to under-balanced drilling where drilling mud may be of foam or gel consistency, drilling jobs where flow rates are very low, resulting in low pressure drops, and non-ideal conditions with poor mud pumps and/or pulsation dampeners. EM telemetry, on the other hand, suffers from conditions such as high attenuation in salt-saturated formations, and formations of high resistivity contrast.
For the aforementioned reasons, there is a need in the art for a system and method that provides advanced detection capability for MWD data transmission from a downhole borehole assembly (BHA) to surface data receivers by reducing the performance variance of mud pulser and EM telemetry from one field to another, or from one well to another, or even from one zone to another within the same well. The MWD data transmission system, as described herein, is uniquely suited to achieve these objectives.